Hagop A. Yacoubian, Ph.D.

BIO

Dr. Yacoubian is an Assistant Professor of Education and the Chair of the Faculty of Social & Behavioral Sciences. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses mainly in science education, philosophy of education and curriculum theory. Dr. Yacoubian has worked as high school science teacher, administrator, and teacher educator in Lebanon and Canada.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Dr. Yacoubian’s research focuses on preparing citizens who can engage in democratic decision-making processes. One area of his research involves exploring desirable ways of preparing scientifically literate future citizens. Towards that end, he focuses on studying how future citizens can be guided to think critically about nature of science (NOS) and socioscientific issues. Another area of his research involves understanding factors that contribute to (or hinder) the development of critical mindset among future citizens.

Yacoubian, H. A. (2013). A framework for addressing nature of science in school science. American Educational Research Association (AERA) Online Paper Repository.

ACADEMIC CONFERENCES (SELECTION)

A. Invited Talk

(2013). Towards a Physical Science Curriculum that Cultivates Critical Thinking in Nature of Science. Pan-Hellenic National Conference in Science Education. Organized jointly by the Greek Physicists’ Association and the Schools of Education and Physics at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Thessaloniki, Greece.

B. Papers Presented at Academic Conferences

Yacoubian, H. A., Mardirossian, T., & Khatib, L. (2016, August). A framework for analyzing the image of the scientist portrayed through educational resources. Paper presented at the 2016 European regional conference of the International History, Philosophy and Science Teaching Group, Flensburg, Germany.

Yacoubian, H. A. (2016, May). Teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge of critical thinking. Paper presented at the 2016 conference of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE), Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Calgary, AB, Canada.

Yacoubian, H. A. (2015). Values education and critical thinking at the Armenian schools in Lebanon. Conference on Challenges in Teaching Western Armenian in the 21st Century. Co-organized by the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales in Paris (Inalco) and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (Armenian Communities Department). Paris, France.

Yacoubian, H. A. (2015). Adapted primary literature to engage students in exploration of a socioscientific issue. 11th Conference of the European Science Education Research Association. Helsinki, Finland.

Yacoubian, H. A. (2013). From nature of science ideas into a nature of science curriculum. Annual Conference of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST), Puerto Rico.

Yacoubian, H. A. (2012). Philosophical discourse on ‘nature of science’ and consensus frameworks of ‘nature of science’ in school science: A critical evaluation and a proposal. Annual Conference of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE), Waterloo, ON, Canada.

Yacoubian, H. A. (2011). Towards a more authentic classroom treatment of the substantive content of ‘nature of science’ and the process of its development. Paper presented at the 11th International and 6th Greek History, Philosophy and Science Teaching Joint Conference, Thessaloniki, Greece.

ACADEMIC DEGREES

Ph.D. in Secondary Education, University of Alberta, Canada
M.A. in Education, American University of Beirut
T.D. in Science Education, American University of Beirut
B.S. in Medical Laboratory Technology, American University of Beirut